tag:blog.ourhumblehome.org,2014:/feedDouglas Brunk2014-06-20T05:07:22-07:00Douglas Brunkhttp://blog.ourhumblehome.orgSvbtle.comtag:blog.ourhumblehome.org,2014:Post/tribute-to-valerie2014-06-20T05:07:22-07:002014-06-20T05:07:22-07:00Tribute to Valerie Joy Brunk Herzler for her memorial service on June 19, 2014<blockquote class="large">
<p>One of the most difficult things I have ever done was to write and then present this tribute for Valerie. In hindsight, I am so glad that I did it.</p>
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<p>From the day my dear sister was born in Palermo, Sicily, I have loved her and felt very protective, perhaps on occasion overly so. I would get <em>VERY</em> upset if anyone other than my parents would even touch her or for that matter even look at her. My parents tell stories of my incessant questioning (I know that is hard for many of you to believe) which eventually included, “Can I marry Valerie when we grow up?“</p>
<p>I assume it was early on my Dad coined her family nickname that would stick to this day — Bella Bimba (Beautiful Girl). It comes from an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHjWjxr7tek" rel="nofollow">Italian song </a> that I won’t even try to sing for you. Dad with his fatherly eyes captured her essence. Didn’t he? If you see early pictures of her absolute cuteness you can’t help but call her Bella Bimba.</p>
<p>We Mennonites can be a bit suspicious of this word ‘beautiful.’ We are concerned about putting on airs and ostentatious displays. But beautiful is what she was – to her core.</p>
<p>As I have looked over the pictures over the last couple of days, I have been struck dumb by her physical beauty. She was so cute in childhood. She developed into a beauty as a girl. As a woman, she bore herself with her own unique Valerie-version of our mother’s poise and stature. She had a timeless quality and carried it easily. I can only imagine how much she would detest my talking about her in front of a room full of people — much less discussing her beauty.</p>
<p>We all know that physical beauty, however, has its limits. Our Bella Bimba radiated beauty as a devoted wife and mother. She loved her family with a deep and abiding love and in simple and creative ways helped build a beautiful life for her family. This love reached to her extended family and encompassed <em>MANY</em> unexpected changes in our family life and structure. Some of those changes were not easy but she did not run, even though they could be very scary.</p>
<p>Our Bella Bimba radiated beauty through her passionate desire to be of service to others and her devotion to God. Through the work she chose to devote herself to on a daily basis through social work, through her work with this congregation, and through the work in Haiti that Andre and Val chose to devote their precious time.</p>
<p>Our Bella Bimba radiated beauty through silence. Valerie was a quiet and reserved person. She left the public limelight to those of us who craved it more. She worked and participated from the background. She made things happen. When she choose to speak she would communicate through few and carefully chosen words. </p>
<p>Lest you create an image in your mind of a quiet, unassuming, angelic, push over — I feel like I should correct that right now. Under that exterior, lay a woman of strong conviction with some, but not unlimited, patience with less than wise decisions or behavior in others. I say this as her older brother who, of course, would only occasionally be on the receiving end of that “correction.” On occasion I would hear stories or witness her corrective action towards others. I could not help but wonder, “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”</p>
<p>Our Bella Bimba radiated beauty … but as my partner, Lloyd, put it recently, that radiance was sometimes dimmed. It was not always easy for my dear sister because she suffered from anxiety, sometimes mild, sometime overwhelming. It frustrated her ability to be everything she wanted to be for her family and friends. </p>
<p>At the end, dear sister, we have been left with a mystery. There are some things we will never know and questions for which there will be no answers in this life. There are times we will be angry. There are times we will be frustrated. There are times we will feel overwhelmed by sadness. In all these times, hopefully, we can turn to Our Source and one another to be loved and reminded of how much you loved us.</p>
<p>So now dear Dolce Bella Bimba we must take the mystery you left us with and enter into an even larger Mystery. We must place you (though so unwillingly) with gentleness, oh so much gentleness, into the loving, strong arms of the Creator. In my mind, I can see standing there at the Eternal Right Hand, regal, loving, and comforting as ever, our dear mother waiting to enfold you in her arms.</p>
<p>Peace be with you Valerie and God’s peace be with us all.</p>
tag:blog.ourhumblehome.org,2014:Post/wanda-harders-tribute2014-06-20T05:00:30-07:002014-06-20T05:00:30-07:00Wanda Harder's Tribute to Valerie Joy Herzler for her memorial service on June 19, 2014<p>My precious Valerie,</p>
<p>We’ve been friends ever since you moved in across the road in 1975, and I’ve always called you my sister. It’s so hard to put into words who you were to me and how much I will miss you. I’ve spent the past few days going through old photos and replaying thousands of memories. Memories of:</p>
<ul>
<li>picnics</li>
<li>climbing trees on the hill</li>
<li>endless craft projects</li>
<li>wandering all over Park View</li>
<li>crazy costumes</li>
<li>baking experiments</li>
<li>setting up hilarious obstacle courses with Doug in your basement,
like putting on your dad’s waders and timing each other as
we ran around completing a series of tasks</li>
<li>hiking with my family</li>
<li>just talking</li>
<li>listening to my Larry Norman albums</li>
<li>letters across the miles when we weren’t in the same
country</li>
<li>laughing—a LOT</li>
<li>being in each other’s weddings</li>
<li>being pregnant at the same time</li>
<li>playdates when Casey &amp; Joseph were little</li>
<li>walking with each other through the loss of a parent</li>
<li>lunches at Dave’s Taverna and Blue Nile</li>
<li>shopping – You helped me pick out this dress last winter for
a wedding. It certainly was NOT intended for this
occasion.</li>
</ul>
<p>For all the time we spent together, I can’t believe that there are so few photos of the two of us. (Don’t worry—that photo of us in our Wonder Woman costumes will never become public.) We just weren’t into photos. We were into being friends and spending time together. </p>
<p>You were always content to stay in the background, but you possessed such grace and wisdom. You cared deeply about people, and you were such a wonderful listener. As we’ve shared the ups and downs of life and wrestled with issues of faith and parenting together, I’ve so appreciated your thoughtful insights, your integrity, and your prayers. You forgave me for the many times I was a too-bossy big sister. You always laughed at my jokes. Thank you for blessing my life with your sweetness. I will miss you. You will always be my sister.</p>
tag:blog.ourhumblehome.org,2014:Post/obituary2014-06-20T04:52:20-07:002014-06-20T04:52:20-07:00My sister's Obituary<blockquote class="large">
<p>published June 17, 2014<br><br>
<em>Lloyd, my husband, wrote this beautiful obituary for my dear sister. Hopefully he knows how much we all appreciate how well he captures her essence.</em></p>
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<p>Valerie Joy Brunk Hertzler died suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday [June 14, 2014] evening. She was 45 years of age.</p>
<p>She was born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy to missionary parents George R. Brunk III and Erma Hess Brunk. She grew up in Palermo, Richmond, and Harrisonburg, Va.</p>
<p>She graduated from Eastern Mennonite High School and received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Eastern Mennonite University in 1991.</p>
<p>Passionate about helping others, she worked for over twenty years at Harrisonburg Rockingham Social Services, most recently as day care social worker.</p>
<p>She was a member of Lindale Mennonite Church.</p>
<p>She is survived by Andre Hertzler, her husband of nearly twenty-four years, and her beloved sons Casey and Noah of Harrisonburg; her father George R. Brunk III and his wife Ruthann Miller Brunk of Harrisonburg and Goshen, Ind.; her brother, Douglas L. Brunk, his spouse Lloyd Bowman, of Elkins Park, Pa., and their son Sheldon Bowman-Brunk of Pottstown, Pa.; her husband’s parents, Lowell and Betty Hertzler; her husband’s brother, Shelby Hertzler, his wife Jodi Nisly Hertzler and their children, Valerie’s nephews and niece, Oliver, Milo and Arwen. She is also survived by many of her Brunk and Hess uncles, aunts and cousins. She was predeceased by her mother Erma.</p>
<p>Valerie was deeply devoted to her husband and children and sought to create a simple, beautiful life for her family. She was deeply and fiercely loyal and always dependable. Valerie was a person of few words, but they were carefully and thoughtfully spoken when offered. Guided by a powerful inner light, she was genuine, resolute, and truthful. Though she could speak her mind if necessary, Valerie’s actions spoke loudest.</p>
tag:blog.ourhumblehome.org,2014:Post/stop-all-the-clocks-cut-off-the-telephone2014-06-19T12:44:19-07:002014-06-19T12:44:19-07:00Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone<p>W. H. Auden</p>
<p>Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,<br><br>
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,<br><br>
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum<br><br>
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.</p>
<p>Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead<br><br>
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,<br><br>
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,<br><br>
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.</p>
<p>He was my North, my South, my East and West,<br><br>
My working week and my Sunday rest,<br><br>
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;<br><br>
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.</p>
<p>The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;<br><br>
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;<br><br>
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.<br><br>
For nothing now can ever come to any good.</p>
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<p><em>Poem Lloyd read at Valerie’s graveside service</em></p>
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